Trustees extend term for UIC chancellor

“Under her leadership, UIC has continued its remarkable growth,” President Bob Easter said of Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares. Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin/UIC Photo Services

The appointment of Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares, who joined UIC in January 2009, was extended to Jan. 15, 2015, by the university Board of Trustees.

The search for a new chancellor will begin spring semester, President Bob Easter said at the board meeting Nov. 14 at the Springfield campus.

Allen-Meares’ contract was extended after a review launched in August, customary when top administrators are completing a term of service, with input from students, faculty, staff, alumni and community leaders.

“I am pleased that Chancellor Allen- Meares has agreed to serve for another year. Under her leadership, UIC has continued its remarkable growth — in enrollment, in academic and research achievement and in respect as one of the world’s great urban universities,” Easter said.

She will be eligible for compensation at the end of her extension under a new university performance-based incentive compensation plan. Her base salary is $422,458.

During Allen-Meares’ tenure, UIC’s enrollment is up 8 percent, research funding has risen by 14 percent and the campus ranking rose 19 spots in the U.S. News and World Report annual list of top universities.

She created the Faculty Discovery Fund-Chancellor’s Innovation Fund to support UIC research discoveries and seed investments in startups, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program to support interdisciplinary graduate research, and expanded the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.

The Chancellor’s Cluster Initiative to Increase Diversity and the Interdisciplinary Culture at UIC provides funding to recruit underrepresented minority faculty who conduct research on topics related to diversity.

At the board meeting, Allen-Meares gave a presentation to trustees on UIC’s efforts to become a Hispanic-serving institution as defined by federal standards, a designation given to colleges and universities whose Hispanic student enrollment reaches the 25 percent threshold.

UIC has a Hispanic enrollment rate of 24.7 percent, Allen-Meares said, and meeting the 25 percent level could lead to additional federal funding for expanding Hispanic-centered services.